December 4, 2018 – luchablog

I’ve tried to stop putting up GIFs of finishes to avoid ruining the matches, but you can’t really ruin Puebla main events

CMLL (MON) 12/03/2018 Arena Puebla [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Lucha Central]
1) Astro, Meyer, Sonic b Guerrero Espacial, King Rocker, Sombra Diabólika
Sonic Arena Puebla debut. Tencicos took 1/3.
2) Espanto Jr., Fuerza Chicana, Policeman b Arkalis, Millenium, Tigre Rojo Jr.
Rudos took 2/3.
3) Stigma, Titán, Tritón b Kawato San, Okumura, Tiger
tecnicos took 2/3.
4) Cavernario, Felino, Rey Bucanero b Atlantis, Soberano Jr., Valiente
Rudos took 1/3.
5) Diamante Azul & Volador Jr. DQ Rush & Terrible
Tecnico stook 2/3, the last when Volador faked a foul from Terrible.

This went just under 100 minutes, which is pretty short for a Puebla show. Sometimes they go with a longer match when they only run five. Not this time. Third match sounded like the only one worth watching.

Today’s CMLL Tuesday card is full of matches that are close to looking good. They’re just not quite there. There’s also nothing carrying over from last week, except if “Black Panther has underwhelming opponent in a lightning match” is meant to be a story. The main event has NGD vs Angel de Oro, Niebla Roja and anchor Atlantis. Los Guantos Style (Titan, Triton, Esfinge) face Hijos del Infierno (Ephesto, Luciferno, and Mephisto.) Like last night, the tercera could be the best match, where Rey Cometa, Guerrero Maya, and Drone take on Okumura, Kawato, and Virus. The women are the second match and the opener has the first Sangre Imperial streaming appearance in two months. This show will stream at 7:30 pm on CMLL’s YouTube channel.

Guadalajara has the Guerreros versus Caristico, Valiente, and Volador. They seemed to be setting up a Volador/UG match last week, but perhaps that will be adjusted due to the next paragraph.

There are some changes to cards for later this week. Caristico is off Friday and Saturday, and not on Sunday’s show if he was ever meant to be. The Friday main event singles match with no build is now the latest version of the Ultimo Guerrero versus Volador. Atlantis slips into Volador’s place in the semi-main. Diamante Azul fills in on Saturday’s main event. Tuesday substitutions are typically injury changes, though it might be a different case with Caristico and his outside work.

WWE’s PC Instagram was posting photos of the trainees from various countries posing together. I posted the Mexico one. Either Diamante has changed his mask or I don’t recognize the guy in the middle. I don’t recognize the taller men, but Bestia 666 says the guy on the right was a football teammate of his. Everyone’s having a little fun with Raul Mendoza training Ricky Marvin. Marvin is not just more experienced than Mendoza, he was instrumental in Mendoza getting his stint in NOAH that helped get him looked at by WWE in the first place.

Stephanie Vaquer, who’s been wrestling in Mexico, is there as well. Today’s the last day of the tryout; you can see about five seconds of a Lady Maravilla/Zatara match on their Instagram story. WWE usually ends up signing a few people from these tryouts, if only to show they achieved something. I’m not sure if that’s the going to be case here. It may be, but it sounds like this is more scouting for future plans than the present.

Rush will face the Kingdom’s TK O’Ryan on 12/15 in his ROH debut. It appears they’re setting up a Matt Taven/Rush rematch in ROH.

A lucha libre exhibition is open in Puebla until the end of the month.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

Congratulating on +LuchaTV for reaching episode 100 of the En+carados podcast.

GALLI has DJZ & Drago vs Golden Dragon & Gringo Loco as their main event this Sunday. The fundraising option, which is never happening, should be for paying me to go to shows like this to bootleg matches like that.

Lineups

CMLL (SUN) 12/09/2018 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Nitro & Pierrothito
2) Leono, Magnus, Príncipe Diamante vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Espíritu Negro
3) Audaz, Rey Cometa, Star Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
4) Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Misterioso Jr. [lightning]
5) Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr., Titán vs Hechicero, Templario, Vangellys
6) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Mephisto, Rey Bucanero

Raziel is listed again. It would help if Vangellys is good.

LLB , Memes , Noba (SAT) 12/15/2018 Arena Naucalpan
1) Black Kraken & Demasiado vs Divino & Hijo De Brazo De Platino
2) Baxter & Kid Silver vs Alas de Acero & Iron Kid and Freelance & Máscara Mágica
3) Gato De Ecatepec & Manchitas vs Demus & Fantasma de la Ópera
4) Eterno vs Audaz (CMLL)
5) Ricky Marvin vs Loco Max
6) Mr. Niebla vs Zumbido
7) Impulso vs Fly Star, Dragón Bane, Canis Lupus, Chico Che, Optimus (Guerrero), Eragón, Black Dragón, Demonio Infernal [cage, mask, hair]

A rare Saturday show in Naucalpan. This one is being called Lucha Threesome because Nobra (Acapulco) is joining the usual Lucha Memes & Lucha Libre Boom promotion. Ricky Marvin and Loco Max last had a singles match 16 years.

I just watched Eterno versus Aramis last night and Eterno was at least a very good base for a flyer there.

AAA , IWRG (THU) 12/27/2018 Arena Naucalpan
1) ? vs ??
2) Lady Shani & Vanilla vs Keyra & Lady Maravilla
3) Epitafio, Leviatham, Tormento vs Epidemia, Heavy Boy, Yakuza
4) Hijo Del Vikingo & Lancelot vs Tiger Boy & Villano III Jr.
5) La Parka, Máximo, Pagano vs Joe Lider, La Máscara, Texano Jr.

Semi-main could be pretty good.

Alas de Oro, Centella Oriental, Mexica, Yakuza vs Danger, Loquillo, Sádico, Yoruba
(Klandestino @ Arena Lopez Mateos on 08/04/2018, 26:18, good, HECTOR GODFREY TV)

This was a good action tag match in front of a crowd who was very excited to see it. Everyone did well, there wasn’t a particular direction to it. It seemed like a fun match to experience live but there were a few points of obvious repositioning and releasing holds for no reason that bothered me on video. Sadico always makes these roundups and then I don’t think to see him the rest of the year, but he remains really good with his dropkicks and his dive among the highlights here. I don’t think I’ve seen Yakuza since he lost his mask. He could use some bigger trunks.

Penta 0M vs Rush vs Carístico
(IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 08/16, 12:39, ok, +LuchaTV)

I’m not sure why I included this one on the list to watch. Maybe I hit the wrong button? It is more energetic than most matches involving all these people, but not a great match by any standards. They brawl a bit, they use some weapons, there’s an convoluted finish. It’s fine, it’s a little bit better than fine, but it’s not a particularly satisfying match.

Lady Maravilla vs Keyra
(LLB/Lucha Memes @ Arena Lopez Mateos on 09/16, 5:59, +LuchaTV)

This version of the eternal rivalry seemed surprising for how fast they were getting to the big stuff. It may a little more sense when they were only going six minutes. Still, this flowed better than the Mexa Wrestling match while giving you a look at some of what they could do – it’s a better introduction match for sure. The sequence leading into the campana and Keyra crushing Maravilla’s face was really well done. Keyra is a rare human being who will give her friend a hard elbow in the face and then smile and laugh about it. Maravilla’s finish looked good. Easy enjoyable match.

Hechicero vs Daga
(LLB/Lucha Memes @ Arena Lopez Mateos on 09/16, 19:55, great, +LuchaTV)

This version of Hechicero/Daga was going along better than The Crash September version, and then the referee counted three on a spot where it sure didn’t seem like was the plan and that was it. This match was still building up and it was just cruel for it to end so soon. I’d probably put that match over this one because it had an ending, but this would’ve been easily better had it kept going for a couple more minutes. The smaller sequences were really good. I liked the battle over Hechicero’s anklelock, and Hechicero’s corner knee smash was one of the best he’s done. Daga’s German suplex looked great too. I still have the Crash Iron Man match to watch and my recollection is that didn’t go quite as well. Hope they eventually get a chance for it to go as far as it seemed like it was going to go here.

El Bandido, Flamita, Rey Horus vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Templario (CMLL)
(The Crash @ Auditorio de Tijuana on 09/21, 8:45, good, Arena Clandestina)

What Happened: This version is edited, heavily so near the end.

Review: [good]

A strong all action tercera from what we could see. The Mexa Blood & Horuz team are really spectacular throughout the match, looking like the more major league side. Templario carries things for the CMLL team. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja are fine but didn’t make much of an impact in what we see. (It’s a bit telling that Niebla Roja’s move for the big run of finishes is a Canadian Destroyer, a CMLL version of the fantastic moves, while the indie teams are doing more cutting edge stuff.) An easy fun watch, if frustrating that it had editing where not much was really needed.

Aramis, Freelance, Relámpago vs Cerebro Negro, Dr. Cerebro, Dragón Bane
(AAA/IWRG @ Arena Naucalpan on 10/04, 16:58, good, Internetv Deportes)

Easily the best of the three trios/atomicos in this batch. It built better, it had a fun mat wrestling section with Aramis/Dr. Cerebro while also matching big highspots. The crowd was into this one too, and the screwy finish feels irrelevant because we still got a three count. Relampago had a weak performance in his highlight run, but so many other guys looked great in their time. The dives were pretty cool too. Dragon Ban hasn’t gotten to act like much of a rudo in AAA, gets to do so here, and shows a little bit of a personality. The third fall goes a decent amount of time but doesn’t amount to a lot. This would’ve been a stronger recommendation with a bit more.

Day: December 4, 2018

Volador cheats Terrible in Puebla, Tuesday preview, WWE LA

2018 watch later catch up, part 13 of ∞